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The confidential deals Apple strikes with suppliers have been dragged into public view by the bankruptcy last week of a key component maker in Arizona.上周，苹果(Apple)在亚利桑那州的一家关键组件制造商申请破产，导致苹果与供应商间的保密协议被拖进公众视野。Details of Apple’s non-disclosure agreements, which suppliers are not allowed to acknowledge, have emerged in court filings by GT Advanced Technologies, including the m penalty the iPhone maker imposes for any leak of product information.苹果的保密协议细节（协议要求供应商不得供认这些细节）已出现在GT Advanced Technologies提交法院的文件中，这些细节包括，若产品信息有任何泄漏，苹果将对泄密方处以5000万美元罚款。Ahead of a court hearing tomorrow, GT’s lawyers are arguing that even more information about its relationship with Apple should be published, in the interests of creditors and shareholders.明天法院将举行庭审。GT的律师在开庭前主张，为债权人和股东的利益起见，应将GT与苹果关系的更多细节公之于众。In filings last week, the manufacturer called its supplier agreement with Apple “oppressive and burdensome”. That marked a sudden about-turn by the Nasdaq-listed company, which a year ago was enthusing to shareholders how the partnership would transform it. Creditors and bondholders are together owed more than 0m by GT.GT在上周提交给法院的文件中称，其与苹果达成的供应商协议是“压迫性的和苛刻的”。此事标志着这家纳斯达克(Nasdaq)上市公司的态度突然发生了180度的转变。一年前，该公司还在兴奋地向股东表示与苹果的合作关系会让公司发生多大的改观。GT现在欠债权人和债券持有人合计超过5亿美元。With the exact circumstances leading up to GT’s sudden filing for 11 bankruptcy protection unclear, other companies in Apple’s supply chain are watching the case with nervous interest.现在还不清楚在GT依据美国《破产法》第11章申请破产保护前到底发生了什么，苹果供应链中的其他公司正在紧张地关注此案。Most of Apple’s suppliers are in Asia but under chief executive Tim Cook, it has worked to expand its US supply chain. Its ,000 Mac Pro has been manufactured in Texas since December.苹果的供应商大多在亚洲，但在首席执行官蒂姆#8226;库克(Tim Cook)的领导下，苹果已努力扩大其在美国的供应链。去年12月以来，该公司售价3000美元的Mac Pro一直是在得克萨斯州制造的。Last November, Apple said it would lend GT 8m to help it set up a sapphire manufacturing facility in Arizona. Though neither party would comment on what the synthetic sapphire would be used for, analysts concluded that it was probably destined to replace the hardened glass used in the iPhone’s screen. Apple has since said its Watch accessory will also come with a sapphire screen.去年11月，苹果曾表示它会借给GT 5.78亿美元，帮助后者在亚利桑那州建立一家蓝宝石制造工厂。虽然双方都不愿就这种人造蓝宝石的用途置评，但分析师推断，它很可能会被用来取代iPhone屏幕所用的强化玻璃。苹果之后表示，Apple Watch也将使用蓝宝石屏。Encouraged by tax breaks, both companies had trumpeted the partnership for creating hundreds of jobs.受税收减免措施激励，这两家公司都曾大肆宣扬这一合作关系会创造数百个就业岗位。Under the agreement with GT, Apple was to design and build a facility near Phoenix, and lease it to GT, drawing power from a purpose-built solar array.根据与GT达成的协议，苹果要在凤凰城附近设计建造一家工厂并出租给GT，其电力将来自专为该厂建造的太阳能电池阵。But barely a year later, GT filed for bankruptcy. This came as a shock to Wall Street, which sold down its stock by more than 90 per cent in a day, and Apple itself.但刚过了一年，GT就申请破产。这件事对华尔街和苹果自身都构成了冲击。华尔街在一天内抛出了90%以上的GT股票。“We are focused on preserving jobs in Arizona following GT’s surprising decision and we will continue to work with state and local officials as we consider our next steps,” Apple said.苹果表示：“在GT作出这一惊人决定后，我们的工作重点在于保住亚利桑那州的就业岗位。我们将继续与该州及当地官员合作，共同思考后续行动。”While GT is looking to blame its deal with Apple for its financial difficulties, it aly faces a class-action lawsuit from angry shareholders who claim that it “misrepresented and/or concealed” its financial position, its ability to meet Apple’s requirements and its progress on manufacturing the sapphire.虽然GT打算将其财务困境归罪于与苹果的协议，但它已遭到愤怒股东的集体诉讼。这些股东称，GT“歪曲和/或隐瞒”自身财务状况、满足苹果要求的能力以及制造蓝宝石的进展。GT did not respond to requests for comment.GT没有回复记者的置评请求。As recently as August, GT said in an earnings call that it was confident it would meet the operational targets and receive its final prepayment of 9m, which had been due by the end of this month. But when the iPhone 6 was revealed last month without mention of a sapphire screen, GT’s stock tumbled.就在今年8月，GT还在财报电话会议上表示，它相信自己能够实现经营目标和收到1.39亿美元的最终预付款——这笔款项应于本月底前给付。但苹果上月发布iPhone 6时未提到蓝宝石屏，GT股价随后暴跌。Few suppliers are able to achieve a higher profit margin than Apple itself, which reported gross margins of 39.4 per cent in its June quarter. Long-term partners have become accustomed to its demanding financial terms, in part because they have been able to ride on the back of Apple’s rapid growth.很少有供应商能实现高于苹果自身的利润率。苹果财报显示，在截至今年6月的这个季度，该公司的毛利率为39.4%。苹果的长期合作伙伴已对其苛刻的财务条款习以为常，部分原因在于它们能从苹果的高速增长中捞到好处。GT appears to be the first of its thousands of suppliers to run into such public financial distress. It is aly beginning to wind down the sapphire manufacturing operations related to Apple products, which it said cost it m a day, leading to the loss of 890 jobs, out of 1,110 full-time employees.在苹果的数千家供应商当中，GT似乎成为了首家遭遇这种公开财务困境的公司。GT已开始逐步关停与苹果产品有关的蓝宝石制造业务，它表示，此举造成的损失达每天100万美元，还导致1110名全职员工中有890人被裁员。GT hopes that lifting the veil of secrecy that Apple has imposed will help its case. It asked the court for permission to file unredacted details of its situation “in the interest of their creditors, equity holders and other stakeholders, as well as to ensure an open, transparent and fair process”.GT希望，揭下苹果硬罩在双方协议上的神秘面纱能有利于自己的案子。GT请求法院“为了GT债权人、股权持有人及其他利益相关者的利益，以及为了确保程序的公开、透明和公平”，批准它无保留地在文件中披露其详细情况。In court filings, GT said that Apple’s non-disclosure agreements “provide that each breach of the confidentiality obligations will require GTAT Corp to pay liquidated damages to Apple in an amount of m per occurrence”.GT在提交给法院的文件中表示，苹果的保密协议“规定，GTAT公司每违反一次保密义务，就须向苹果付5000万美元违约金。”The case could break legal ground as judges must weigh the rights of corporate confidentiality against those of creditors in a bankrupt company.本案可能开创法律界的一个先例，因为法官必须就企业的保密权利与破产企业债权人的权利作出权衡。GT says Apple’s non-disclosure agreements give the iPhone maker “disproportionate power”.GT表示，苹果的保密协议赋予这家iPhone制造商“过分的权力”。“GTAT also believes that Congress’s express desire for public access in bankruptcy cases#8201;.#8201;.#8201;.#8201;outweighs contractual demands for secrecy,” it said in its request to unseal certain filings. “However, absent express direction from the court, GTAT will not risk exposing itself to potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in additional liabilities.” The judge approved its request, setting the stage for further revelations this week.GT请求公开它提交的某些文件，它表示：“GTAT还认为，美国国会关于破产案应向公众透明的明确愿望……比合同的保密要求更重要。不过，如果法院不给出明确的指示，GTAT不会冒险让自身背上可能达数亿美元的额外债务。”法官批准了GT的请求，这为本周披露更多的信息奠定了基础。 /201410/335730

Boeing has forecast that China will overtake the US as the world’s largest aviation market, extending a surge in single-aisle aircraft demand.Randy Tinseth, a Boeing vice-president, said the reordering of the market would occur by 2033. Chinese air travel, as measured by revenue passenger kilometres, is only about half as large as the US and Canada’s combined.In its annual China market forecast, Boeing projected that Chinese airlines would buy 6,000 aircraft worth 0bn in the next 20 years, with single-aisle aircraft accounting for more than two-thirds of demand.The size of China’s fleet is expected to triple, to about 7,000 aircraft, over the same period. Boeing’s previous forecasts have underestimated purchases of single-aisle aircraft. “I don’t think we anticipated the demand in emerging economies and from low-cost carriers,” said Mr Tinseth, whose forecast echoes similar predictions by rival Airbus.The growth of low-cost China carriers is expected to be an important source of demand. In July, China Eastern became the first of the big three airlines to launch a budget carrier.Boeing also expects new international routes to spur sales of the 787 Dreamliner.China Southern and Hainan Airlines took deliveries of their first Dreamliners last year, with Hainan deploying it on a new service from Beijing to Boston.Boeing has not outlined any plans to manufacture aircraft in the country, while China’s own Comac has struggled with product delays. “China is trying to do [what Airbus did in 40 years] in an accelerated manner,” Mr Tinseth said. 波音(Boeing)预测，中国将取代美国成为世界最大的航空市场，单通道客机将因此在更长时间内面临需求激增的局面。波音副总裁兰迪#8226;廷塞斯(Randy Tinseth)说，市场规模排名的这一变化将发生在2033年。按客公里收入(RPK)计算，中国的民航运量仅约为美国和加拿大之和的一半。波音在其对中国市场的年度预测中预计，中国的航空公司会在未来20年里购买6000架客机，总值8700亿美元，其中单通道客机占总需求的三分之二以上。同期，中国的机队规模将扩大至现在的3倍，达到7000架。波音此前的预测低估了单通道客机的购买量。“我认为我们没有预计到新兴经济体和低成本航空公司的需求，”廷塞斯说。他的预测呼应了波音竞争对手空客(Airbus)做出的类似预测。低成本航空公司的增长预计将成为需求的重要来源。7月份，中国东方航空(China Eastern)成为中国三大航空公司中首家设立廉价航空公司的公司。波音还预测，新的国际航线将刺激波音787梦幻客机(787 Dreamliner)的销售。中国南方航空(China Southern)和海南航空(Hainan Airlines)去年接收了它们的首批梦幻客机机型，海航将其用于北京至波士顿的新航班上。波音还没有拟定任何在中国生产飞机的计划，中国本土的中国商用飞机公司(Comac)则在努力解决产品延迟交付的问题。“中国正在努力以一种加速的方式完成（空客在过去40年完成的工作），”廷塞斯说。

Chegg, the startup that began as an analog online book rental service and has itself transformed into a multifaceted digital hub for students, has filed publicly for an initial public offering to raise about 0 million.Chegg起初是一个模拟在线租书务网站，现已转变成为一个以学生为务对象的多元数字中心，并首次公开招股，募集约1.5亿美元资金。The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has aly been working with the Securities and Exchange Commission, doing what is called a “secret filing.” That means that Chegg used the 2012 law, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, that allows any private company that has less than billion in annual revenue to work confidentially with regulatory agencies ahead of the public IPO announcement. Both Workday and Trulia filed successfully in this manner.位于加州圣克拉拉的Chegg公司正与美国券交易委员会合作一起“秘密文件”，这意味着Chegg实行的是2012创业企业融资法案，这条法案允许年收入少于10亿美元的私人公司在公开上市公告之前秘密与管理机构合作。This speeds up the offering process, getting regulatory issues resolved quietly and also keeping the IPO shielded from scrutiny at the start. It also allows companies such as Chegg to make initial contact with potential investors, and sources said that Chegg has done so.实行该法案加速了招股过程，使得监管问题能安静地被解决，并使首次公开招股得到起初就接受详细监察的保护。这使得例如Chegg之类的公司能与潜在的投资方获得初步联系，有消息称Chegg也确实这样做过。Now it will be three weeks before the company can start its official road show to sell itself to Wall Street, which will then be followed by the IPO itself. The most recent valuation of the company was 0 million, but its public market value is likely to be much higher.从现在起的三个星期内，Chegg就要开始正式会向华尔街推销自己了，在那之后便要进行首次公开招股。最新的公司估值是8亿美元，但Chegg的公开市场价值可能更高。Chegg will use the money it is raising to expand its offerings. The company is not without competitors, which have had varying degrees of success, including BookRenter, Kno and, perhaps most significantly, Amazon.Chegg将会使用募得的资金去扩张自己提供的务项目。该公司并不是没有对手的，它的竞争者包括：BookRenter，Kno以及可能最重要的对手亚马逊，这些都已经取得了不同程度的成功。Chegg was founded in 2005 at Iowa State University as a hyper-local classifieds directory, and the business evolved two years later into a textbook-rental service. It now has a variety of offerings centered on students from high school onward to many thousands of educational institutions.Chegg作为一个超本地化分类指南，于2005年在爱荷华州立大学成立，两年后变成一个教科书租赁务平台。如今Chegg已经发展为以高中和众多教育机构的学生为务对象的平台。It has raised 5 million from a variety of venture firms and investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Pinnacle Ventures and Insight Venture Partners.Chegg已经从很多投资公司和投资者处获得1.95亿美元的资金，投资者包括克莱恩那·帕尔金斯风险投资、尖峰创投和纽约风险投资公司Insight Venture Partners。 /201309/255010

Apple has said its new iphone 5 sold faster initially than any other iPhone but sales have fallen short of some analysts#39; expectations due in part to supply shortages.苹果公司(Apple)说，其iPhone 5手机在上市初期的销售速度比其他型号iPhone手机刚推向市场时的销售速度都快，但这款手机目前的销售已经低于一些分析师的预期，这一定程度上是供货短缺造成的。So what#39;s causing the supply shortage? Here is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. #39;s take. The company, based in Taiwan with factories across China, uses the trade name Foxconn Technology Group , and assembles many Apple products including the new iPhone.既然如此，是什么原因导致了iPhone 5的供货短缺呢？鸿海精密(Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.)是这样认为的。这家总部位于台湾的公司在中国大陆各地都有工厂，它对外常使用富士康(Foxconn Technology Group)这个名字，包括新款iPhone手机在内的许多苹果公司产品都是由它负责组装的。#39;The iPhone 5 is the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled. To make it light and thin, the design is very complicated,#39; said an official at the company who declined to be named. #39;It takes time to learn how to make this new device. Practice makes perfect. Our productivity has been improving day by day.#39;鸿海精密一位拒绝透露姓名的管理人士说，iPhone 5是富士康组装过的最复杂手机；为了将产品做到轻薄，iPhone 5的设计非常复杂。他说，学会生产这款新手机需要时间；熟能生巧，我们的生产率每天都在提高。The executive said Hon Hai has taken steps to improve its productivity and address scratches on the metal casings of some new iPhones that were shipped. Hon Hai has recently implemented a new quality check procedure to reduce the chance of damages. But he noted the iPhone 5 uses a new coating material that makes it more susceptible to scratching.这位管理人士说，鸿海精密已在采取措施提高生产率，并在着手解决出现在一些已发货新iPhone手机金属壳上的刮痕问题。鸿海精密最近引入了一个新的质量检查程序，以降低产品受损的几率。但这位管理人士也指出，iPhone 5使用了一种新的涂层材料，这使它更容易被留下刮痕。#39;It#39;s always hard to satisfy both aesthetic needs and practical needs,#39; said the executive.他说，总是难以做到美学需求和实用需求都能兼顾。The recent spate of labor strife at the Taiwanese contract maker has raised concerns over whether Apple will be able to keep up with strong demand for the new smartphone. Hon Hai said earlier this month that two disputes between employees occurred at its manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou in China#39;s central Henan province, with neither incident leading to work stoppages. Hon Hai said it has addressed the disputes, which took place earlier this month amid a weeklong holiday commemorating China#39;s National Day. The company said the incidents involved a small group of production-line workers and quality-check personnel.台湾这家产品代工企业最近发生的劳工纠纷令人不禁担心，iPhone 5的供货速度是否能跟得上市场对这一新款智能手机的强劲需求。鸿海精密本月早些时候说，其在河南郑州一家制造工厂发生的两起员工间纠纷都没有导致生产停工。鸿海精密说，它已经解决了这些纠纷。这两起纠纷发生在本月早些时候为期一周的国庆长假期间。该公司说，纠纷事件涉及一小批生产线工人和质检人员。Hon Hai currently assembles the iPhone 5 for Apple at its plants in Zhengzhou, central China, and in Guan Lan, in southern China.鸿海精密目前在该公司位于华中城市郑州以及华南观澜的工厂为苹果公司组装iPhone 5。He admitted that the conflict between assembly line workers and quality inspectors at its Zhengzhou site last month was partly due to the metal casing and other #39;quality issues,#39; but he didn#39;t elaborate.上述管理人士承认，该公司郑州工厂上个月发生组装线员工与质检人员的冲突，一定程度上是由于金属壳划痕和其他“质量问题”，但他拒绝详细谈论此事。#39;The Zhengzhou site, which was set up in 2011, is still pretty new to us. We are still learning how to manage the work force there,#39; said the executive.这名管理人士说，这座2011年建立的郑州工厂对公司来说依然非常新，公司仍在学习如何管理那里的员工队伍。Since the Zhenghou site is a major production facility for the iPhone 5, Hon Hai has continued to increase hiring in Zhengzhou to boost its production capacity for Apple products and other customers, said the executive.该管理人士说，由于郑州工厂是iPhone 5的主要生产设施，鸿海精密继续在郑州增雇人手，以提高公司为苹果和其他客户代工生产产品的能力。 /201210/204633。

Evolutionary, not revolutionary, was the general consensus. As for what Samsung#39;s new phone means for Apple (AAPL), the jury was split.界对三星（Samsung）Galaxy S4的一致评价是，这只能算是进步，而非革命性的飞跃。不过，三星新款手机对苹果（Apple）意味着什么，各方的观点则出现了分歧。Piper Jaffray#39;s Gene Munster: Galaxy S4 Evolutionary, iPhone To Essentially Maintain High End Share In CY13. ;The Galaxy S4 appears to be largely an incremental update to the S3 including a slightly larger screen (4% larger on diagonal), better camera and processor, and updated software, but largely the same body style and casing. We believe some of the software features are unique, including the tilt to scroll, pausing based on facial recognition, and hand gesture based interactions, but view these software improvements as minor compared with what Siri was to the iPhone 4S or even Google Now to Android... Despite the launch and fanfare around the Galaxy S4, we continue to believe that Apple will maintain a low 40% market share in the high-end smartphone market in CY13.;派杰投资（Piper Jaffray）吉恩#8226;蒙斯特：Galaxy S4的确有所进步，但同时，在2013年，iPhone在高端市场仍将占据主导地位。“Galaxy S4大部分都是对S3的一次改进，包括更大的屏幕（对角线尺寸增大了4%），更出色的摄像头与处理器，以及软件更新等，机身和外壳却基本没有变化。我们认为，部分软件功能确实非常特别，包括倾斜滚屏功能、基于面部识别技术的视频暂停功能，以及基于手势的互动等，但相对于Siri之于iPhone 4S的意义，或者Google Now语音务之于安卓（Android）的意义，这些软件上的更新就逊色了不少……虽然Galaxy S4已经发布，而且宣传工作也在如火如荼地进行之中，但我们依然相信，2013年，苹果在高端智能手机市场的份额不会低于40%。”Jefferies#39; Peter Misek: Software Features Took the Stage. ;The hardware was as expected and much like iPhone 5, the S4 saw little change in design from its predecessor besides a slight increase in size from 4.8; to 5;. Samsung focused primarily on its software innovation and interface inputs such as gesture control and Smart Scroll/Pause. While we were impressed overall with our hands-on experience, we await to see how these features perform in the real world and if they are actually used. What does this mean for Apple? We believe the S4 will certainly sell well and it is incrementally negative for Apple; however, the device is not revolutionary, in our view. Aside from the large screen size, which we believe gives Samsung a large advantage over Apple, we believe many of the features can easily be replicated. Additionally, a major complaint amongst Galaxy users is that they do not like Samsung#39;s customized software, especially when it is a downgrade in performance from stock Android features.;杰弗瑞集团（Jefferies）彼得#8226;米塞克：软件功能成主角。“S4的硬件与预期基本一致，与iPhone 5相当。设计方面和之前相比没有太大变化，尺寸也仅从4.8英寸增加到5英寸。”三星主要专注的是软件创新与界面输入，例如手势控制和智能滚动/暂停等。虽然手机实测体验总体上令我们印象深刻，但这些软件功能在实际使用中的表现到底会怎么样，或者说这些功能是否真的实用，我们会拭目以待。S4的推出对苹果意味着什么？我们相信，S4肯定会有相当不错的销量，而且会逐渐给苹果带来麻烦。但在我们看来，S4还算不上一次革命性的飞跃。除了大屏幕尺寸之外——虽然我们也认为这一点使三星在面对苹果时更具优势，我们认为，S4的许多功能很容易就能复制。此外，Galaxy用户抱怨最多的是，他们并不喜欢三星的定制软件，尤其是定制软件的表现完全比不上原生安卓系统中的软件。Nomura#39;s Stuart Jeffrey: Galaxy S4 to help Samsung overtake Apple. ;While clearly a step forward relative to the S3, there is much that is evolutionary about the S4, rather than revolutionary. Nevertheless, we see the S4 potentially helping Samsung to overtake Apple in high-end smartphone shipments during 2013. Our initial thoughts include: #8226; Derivative form factor – the S4 looks rather similar to the S3 and sustains. #8226; Samsung use of plastics as the main backing material. #8226; Some compelling new features, although some will only work with other S4s or new Samsung TVs, arguably limiting their appeal. #8226; 35-40m high-end S4 and Note sales per quarter seems feasible, which would see Samsung overtake Apple in terms of high-end volumes.;野村券（Nomura）斯图尔特#8226;杰弗里：Galaxy S4将帮助三星反超苹果。“虽然S4相比S3有了明显改进，但仍有各种声音认为S4只是一种进步，算不上革命性的飞跃。尽管如此，我们认为S4将帮助三星在2013年的高端智能手机市场反超苹果。我们最初的观点包括：#8226;派生形式因素——S4的外观与S3过于相似。#8226;三星使用塑料作为主要基底材料。#8226;一些有趣的新功能，虽然部分功能仅能与其他S4手机或新三星电视配合使用，限制了这些功能的吸引力。#8226;高端Galaxy S4与Note每季度的销量似乎完全有可能达到3,500万至4,000万台，必将使三星在高端市场反超苹果。”Barclays#39; Ben Reitzes: More Competition for iPhone Comes As Expected. ;In terms of competition vs. Apple, the GS4 seems largely as expected – and there could be some relief for Apple (certain versions of LTE won#39;t be available until later this year). However, as we stated recently in a recent report – we believe that Samsung#39;s momentum is a major issue for Apple. As a result, we need to see Apple expand its iPhone market this year in a big way – and improve its platform. However, Apple seems rather silent of late – and could be waiting until C3Q to make any competitive response outside of potential adjustments to pricing.;巴克莱（Barclays）本#8226;瑞兹：预计iPhone必将面临更激烈的竞争。“在与苹果的竞争方面，Galaxy S4基本符合预期——不过，苹果不必紧张（个别LTE版本将于今年晚些时候才能上市）。但正如我们在近期的一份报告中所述，我们相信三星的发展势头会成为让苹果头疼的主要问题。因此，我们希望看到苹果今年大规模扩大iPhone市场，同时改善平台。但最近，苹果似乎一直在保持沉默，我们或许要等到第三季度，才能看到苹果在调整定价之外，是否还会推出其他措施，对三星予以还击。” /201303/231017

When Daimler decided to post a board member to Beijing for the first time, it did so with a simple mandate: repair long-running operational problems at the German company’s Mercedes-Benz unit in China and close the gap with BMW and Volkswagen’s Audi.戴姆勒(Daimler)首次决定向北京派驻一名董事时，是为了完成一项简单的任务：纠正这家德国公司在中国的梅赛德斯-奔驰(Mercedes-Benz)分部长期以来的运营问题，消除与宝马(BMW)和大众(Volkswagen)旗下奥迪(Audi)的差距。That task, however, has been complicated by an investigation into automotive pricing practices by the National Development and Reform Commission, one of the three government agencies that enforces China’s 2008 anti-monopoly law. The probe has ensnared Mercedes, BMW and market leader Audi to varying degrees, and injected a new risk factor into the sales battle between the big three luxury automakers.然而，中国国家发改委近来对汽车行业定价活动展开调查，让戴姆勒当初的那项任务变得复杂起来。国家发改委是负责执行2008年版《反垄断法》的三大政府机构之一。梅赛德斯-奔驰、宝马以及市场领导者奥迪，都在不同程度上卷入了调查，将一个新的风险因素注入了这三大豪车制造商之间的销售大战中。While these three German companies dominate luxury sedan sales in the world’s largest car market with a combined segment share of 80 per cent, Mercedes has been the laggard. Hubertus Troska, who took over as chairman and chief executive of Daimler’s China operations last year, and Nicholas Speeks, head of its Mercedes unit in the country, set about unifying a fragmented dealership structure and investing in its manufacturing joint venture with state-owned carmaker BAIC Motor.在世界第一大汽车市场——中国，上述3家德国车企以总共80%的份额占据着豪车市场的主导地位。不过，梅赛德斯-奔驰是其中的落后者。去年接任戴姆勒大中华区董事长及首席执行官的唐仕凯(Hubertus Troska)，以及梅赛德斯-奔驰中国区掌门人倪恺(Nicholas Speeks)，已共同着手统一之前分散化的经销商结构，并向与中国国有车企北汽(BAIC)合资成立的北京奔驰注资。Mercedes sold 138,000 cars in China in the first half of this year, compared with 225,000 at BMW and 269,000 at Audi. But Mercedes’ sales are accelerating rapidly and the company seems on target to reach its goal of 300,000 units by 2015.梅赛德斯-奔驰今年上半年在中国的销量达到13.8万辆，低于宝马的22.5万辆和奥迪的26.9万辆。不过，梅赛德斯-奔驰的销量增长迅速，该公司到2015年达到年销量30万辆的目标眼下看来应该可以实现。Executives are still waiting for the results of the NDRC’s investigation, but signals so far suggest Mercedes and Audi may be in for a rougher ride than BMW. At issue is the degree to which the three carmakers have been involved in dealers’ pricing of spare parts and vehicles.车企高管们还在等待国家发改委的调查结果，但迄今为止的一些信号显示，梅赛德斯-奔驰和奥迪会比宝马吃更多苦头。现在的问题在于，这3家车企在多大程度上参与了经销商的零部件和整车定价。Audi has confirmed that a handful of its sales offices – managed by VW’s joint venture with state-owned carmaker First Auto Works – violated unspecified aspects of the anti-monopoly law, and said it would accept whatever penalty the NDRC handed down. Last month the regulator levied its biggest antitrust fines yet on 10 Japanese parts suppliers for price-fixing.奥迪已实，它的几间销售办公室（由大众与中国国有车企一汽(FAW)创立的合资企业管理）违反了《反垄断法》，但不清楚违反了哪些具体条款。奥迪已表示愿意接受国家发改委的任何处罚。国家发改委上月以操纵价格为由，对10家日本零部件供应商开出了迄今数额最高的一张反垄断罚单。Mercedes said one of its joint venture’s sales offices was raided by NDRC officials, while the official Xinhua news agency ed an investigator as saying the German carmaker had “used its leading position to control the prices of its spare parts, repair and maintenance services in downstream markets”.梅赛德斯-奔驰表示，其合资公司的一间销售办公室遭国家发改委突击查访，中国官方的新华社(Xinhua)援引一名调查人员的话称，这家德国车企“利用自身主导地位，对下游售后市场的零部件价格以及维护保养价格进行控制”。In an attempt to mollify the NDRC, Mercedes announced large price cuts on more than 10,000 spare parts. BMW, which has managed to keep a lower profile throughout the investigation, volunteered cuts on only about 2,000 components, having lowered its prices more aggressively over recent years.梅赛德斯-奔驰近日宣布大幅下调逾1万种零部件的价格，试图安抚国家发改委。在整个调查过程中表现得更低调的宝马，尽管近年来降价幅度较大，但此次仅自愿下调了约2000种零部件的价格。 /201409/326621China#39;s state-controlled grid operator is proposing to invest roughly 0 billion on technology to transmit electricity over long distances─presenting President Xi Jinping#39;s administration with an important test of how it treats China#39;s biggest government-controlled companies.中国政府控制的电网运营商提出投资约1,000亿美元用于研发长距离输电技术。此举给习近平为首的新一届政府出了一道重要考题，外界可以从中看出新一届政府将如何对待中国最大的几家政府控制的企业。The infrastructure project, among the most expensive ever proposed in China, has stirred debate among energy experts. State Grid Corp. of China says building a nationwide network of ultrahigh-voltage transmission lines will reduce power losses when transporting electricity over long distances. That will enable power producers to place dirty, coal-burning power stations nearer to mines rather than cities, cutting urban air pollution. The lines will also allow China to tap renewable wind and hydro resources in remote regions.这一基础设施项目可以算是中国迄今提出的成本最高的一个项目，同时也在能源专家中引发争议。中国国家电网公司(State Grid Corp. of China)说，在全国范围内建设一个超高压输电线路网络能够在长距离输电时降低功率损耗。这样发电厂就能将污染严重的燃煤电厂建在离煤矿较近的地方，而不是靠近城市，这能减少城市空气污染。这样的超高压输电线路还能令中国利用偏远地区的风电和水电等可再生能源。But skeptics question the project#39;s viability and its high costs. Others criticize the plan because they say a big state investment would strengthen State Grid#39;s position when many want it broken up as a precursor to making electricity pricing more market-oriented.但怀疑者质疑该项目的可行性及其高昂的成本。其他人批评这一计划则是因为在他们看来，政府进行这样一大笔投资会进一步巩固国家电网的地位。眼下很多人希望分拆国家电网，以此作为电价定价市场化程度提高的前奏。The project could have repercussions abroad. The company has spent heavily on assets in Australia, Portugal and Brazil in recent years, and company executives are eager to apply expertise in ultrahigh-voltage transmissions to other emerging economies, such as Brazil, that may choose to transport electricity over long distances.该项目可能在国外产生反响。国家电网近年来在澳大利亚、葡萄牙和巴西的资产上投入巨资，该公司高管渴望将其在超高压输电方面的专业技术应用到巴西等其它新兴经济体上。这些新兴经济体可能选择长距离输电方案。Analysts say whether the government fully embraces rolling out State Grid#39;s proposed ultrahigh-voltage network will send a signal about the approach of China#39;s new leaders toward state monopolies, which have been instrumental in building China#39;s economy rapidly but are widely considered to be rife with corruption and inefficiency. State Grid supplies power to 1.1 billion people, and it has more than 0 billion in assets and 1.9 million employees.分析师说，无论中国政府最终是否会完全认可国家电网提出的超高压输电网络方案，此事都将释放出一个信号，即中国新一代领导人会如何应对国有垄断企业。在中国经济快速增长的过程中，国有垄断企业发挥了作用，但普遍认为此类企业腐败盛行且效率低下。国家电网向国内11亿民众供电，其资产规模超过3,500亿美元，员工数量为190万人。Whether Mr. Xi seeks to overhaul State Grid #39;will be a test of the new government, whether their reform agenda actually goes into the energy sector or whether they think it#39;s too difficult technically or politically,#39; says Philip Andrews-Speed, who researches China energy governance at the National University of Singapore.新加坡国立大学(National University of Singapore)研究中国能源治理的安德鲁斯-斯彼得(Philip Andrews-Speed)说，习近平是否打算改革国家电网将成为摆在新一届中国政府面前的一道考题。从中可以看出其改革议程是否真的打算涉足能源业，也可以看出他们是否认为这一改革在技术上或政治上难度过大。Discussions are under way to introduce greater competition and improve the performance of China#39;s most important state-owned enterprises more broadly in the economy as well.目前正在讨论的内容包括，引入更多竞争，更广泛地提升中国经济中最重要的国有企业的绩效。Then-Premier Wen Jiabao last year criticized the lack of rivals for China#39;s state-controlled banks. In March Chinese leaders announced a shake-up of the country#39;s troubled railroads and eliminated the railways ministry. Breaking up the once-powerful ministry, which had sagged beneath heavy debt and been stung by corruption allegations, was seen by analysts as a step toward introducing greater competition in the sector. The government also has taken modest steps to liberalize a telecommunications industry long dominated by three state-run providers. Beijing says it will require the carriers to lease out services on their networks to private companies.去年，时任中国总理的温家宝曾批评中国国有缺乏竞争对手。今年3月，中国领导人宣布陷入困境的铁路系统进行重大人事调整，并撤销了铁道部。在分析师看来，分拆曾经权力巨大的铁道部是朝在铁道系统引入更多竞争的方向迈出了一步。铁道部背负了沉重的债务负担，同时深受诸多腐败问题困扰。中国政府也已经采取温和举措放开长期以来被三大国有运营商把持的电信业。北京表示，它将要求运营商对民营企业出租其网络上的部分务。Questions over electricity supply and a potential overhaul of the power grid are particularly sensitive in China, where power-intensive industries are crucial to economic growth and a reliable power supply is a basic requirement for manufacturers of everything from clothing to iPhones.有关电力供应以及可能对电网进行重大改革的问题在中国尤为敏感。在中国，用电大户行业对中国经济增长非常关键，而可靠的电力供应对于各类生产企业来说都是一项基本要求，无论其制造的是装还是iPhone。During China#39;s annual parliamentary session in March, State Grid Chairman Liu Zhenya promoted ultrahigh-voltage technology as central to reducing hazardous levels of fine particulate matter in the air. The company and industry analysts say the network also would relieve the strain on railways, which carry coal from the less densely populated North and West to power plants in population centers of the East.今年3月全国两会召开期间，国家电网公司董事长刘振亚提出，超高压输电技术是降低空气中有害的细小颗粒物水平的关键。国家电网和行业分析师说，这一输电网络也能减轻铁路系统的压力。目前，火车将煤从人口密度较低的西北部地区运至东部人口中心的发电厂。#39;Our national conditions require this kind of technology,#39; says Zhang Zhengling, deputy director of State Grid#39;s development-and-planning department.国家电网发展策划部副主任张正陵说，我们的国情决定我们需要这种技术。The company was formed in 2002 through the breakup of the former China State Power Corp. into separate entities responsible for either power generation or transmission and distribution. The company covers vast swaths of territory, from remote Tibetan communities in the Himalayas to manufacturing centers on the East Coast. A second company, China Southern Power Grid Co., controls transmission and distribution in parts of southern China.该公司于2002年组建，当时前中国国家电力公司一分为多个实体，分别负责发电和输配电。该公司覆盖大片地区，从偏远的喜马拉雅山藏区到东部沿海的制造业中心。另有一家公司中国南方电网有限责任公司(China Southern Power Grid Co.)控制着中国南方部分地区的输配电。State Grid over the past decade consolidated its dominant position as it extended its network to keep pace with breakneck economic growth and soaring power production. From 2010 to last year, China added around 180 gigawatts of power-generating capacity─more than Germany#39;s overall capacity in 2010.过去10年中，国家电网扩大网络规模，以便跟上中国飞速的经济增长和不断飙升的电力生产。从2010年到去年，中国新增发电容量约1.8亿千瓦，比德国2010年的总发电容量还要高。Ultrahigh-voltage transmission is one of State Grid#39;s most ambitious initiatives. The company began operating three ultrahigh-voltage lines in recent years and four others are under construction.超高压输电是国家电网最宏大的计划之一。近年来，该公司开始运营三条超高压输电线路，另有四条在施工建设中。State Grid is seeking approval for at least 14 additional lines that would require more than 350 billion yuan, or roughly billion, in investment. Overall investment in State Grid#39;s proposed ultrahigh-voltage network would top 584 billion yuan ( billion), it says.国家电网另有至少14个输电线路建设项目正在争取获得批准，总计需要投资逾人民币3,500亿元。国家电网说，该公司拟建的超高压输电网络总投资将达人民币5,840亿元。China isn#39;t the first country to experiment with ultrahigh-voltage transmission. The U.S., Japan and the former Soviet Union experimented with ultrahigh-voltage technology in recent decades. But a variety of factors, including stagnant power demand, meant lines weren#39;t rolled out as widely as has been proposed in China.中国并非第一个尝试超高压输电的国家。近几十年中，美国、日本和前苏联都曾尝试过超高压技术。但由于各种因素，包括电力需求停滞不前，这些国家超高压输电线路的规模都不及中国拟建的规模大。State Grid#39;s scale is widely credited as a reason China has been able to build its network so rapidly over the past decade and helps ensure that the power supply in manufacturing centers keeps pace with demand.国家电网的规模被普遍认为是过去10年中国能够迅速构建网络，保制造业中心的电力供应可以满足需求的原因之一。But as Chinese growth moderates, Mr. Xi#39;s government has a new priority. It wants to rebalance the Chinese economy away from a lopsided reliance on government investment and exports and toward greater domestic consumption. Ensuring that industrial and commercial electricity consumers are charged a fair rate is pivotal to that transformation.但随着中国经济增长放缓，习近平领导的政府有了一个新的首要任务。政府希望实现中国经济从严重依赖政府投资和出口到内需拉动的转型。确保对工业和商业电力消费者收费合理对实现经济转型至关重要。But linking grid fees more closely with coal prices is a challenge, analysts say. Chinese power generators#39; earnings have been squeezed in recent years by high prices for coal, their main feedstock. The companies have struggled to pass rising costs onto consumers as grid fees remain regulated.但分析人士说，将电价与煤价更紧密地挂钩是一项挑战。近年来，中国发电企业的收益因高煤价而受到挤压。煤炭是发电企业的主要原料。由于电价仍受到监管部门的控制，发电企业一直难以将不断上升的成本转嫁给消费者。Structural issues also have hampered pricing changes. Because State Grid has a monopoly on buying and selling electricity across most of the country, it is able to justify charging end users higher electricity prices by overstating its transmission and distribution costs, according to some analysts. They say regulators have struggled to ascertain State Grid#39;s true costs and profit as electricity moves through the grid.各种结构性问题也一直在阻碍定价的调整。据一些分析人士说，由于国家电网在中国大部分地区的电力买卖中占据垄断地位，它能通过夸大输配电成本为自己向最终用户收取更高的电价找到理由。他们说，由于电力在电网中传输，监管机构一直难以确定国家电网的真实成本和利润。#39;You can#39;t get a rationale pricing structure until you can force State Grid to unveil what its costs are,#39; says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of economic research firm GaveKal Dragonomics.经济研究公司龙洲经讯(GaveKal Dragonomics)董事总经理葛艺豪(Arthur Kroeber)说，除非能迫使国家电网公布其成本，否则无法得到一个合理的定价结构。State Grid says regulators sit in its Beijing headquarters and are aware of the company#39;s costs and earnings.国家电网说，监管人员就坐在其北京总部内，清楚其成本和盈利情况。Early signals from China#39;s new leadership suggest that a push for power overhaul is on the way. At the National People#39;s Congress, China#39;s government said it would merge the National Energy Administration with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Analysts say combining the regulators would strengthen the NEA as it seeks electricity-sector changes partially directed at State Grid.中国新一代领导人发出的早期信号显示，即将开始推进电力改革。在全国人大上，中国政府说，将把国家电力监管委员会并入国家能源局。分析人士说，目前国家能源局正寻求进行电力行业改革，部分是针对国家电网，将这两家监管机构合二为一有可能扩大国家能源局的权力。Concerns over power reliability continue to weigh on the government, says Lin Boqiang, who runs the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University and advises Beijing on energy issues. The underlying fear is that too aggressive an overhaul could disrupt power supply, which in turn could threaten economic or social stability.厦门大学中国能源经济研究中心主任、在能源问题上为北京提供建议的林伯强说，围绕电力可靠性的担忧继续给政府带来重压；根本的担心是过于激进的改革可能会扰乱电力供应，进而可能威胁经济或社会稳定。#39;People know in general what needs to be done,#39; Mr. Lin says. #39;The point is, at this moment, it#39;s very confusing.#39;林伯强说，人们大体知道需要做些什么，但问题是目前的局面非常混乱。 /201306/243451

Children whose minds wander might have sharper brains, research suggests.研究显示，那些爱走神的孩子也许脑子更灵活。A study has found that people who appear to be constantly distracted have more ;working memory;, giving them the ability to hold a lot of information in their heads andmanipulate it mentally.一项研究发现，那些似乎老走神的人拥有更多;工作记忆;，让他们能在大脑中储存许多信息，并能在大脑中对其进行操纵。Children at school need this type of memory on a daily basis for a variety of tasks, such as following teachers#39; instructions or remembering dictated sentences.学校中的孩子每日需要这类记忆来完成各种任务，例如遵从老师的教导，或记住听写的句子。During the study, volunteers were asked to perform one of two simple tasks during which researchers checked to ask if the participants#39; minds were wandering.在研究过程中，研究人员让志愿者执行两个简单任务的其中之一，并在执行过程中不时询问参与者是否在走神。At the end, participants measured their working memory capacity by their ability to remember a series of letters interspersed with simple maths questions.最后，参与者用自己对穿插着简单数学题的一连串字母的来测算自己的工作记忆容量。Daniel Levinson, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the ed States, said that those with higher working memory capacity reported ;more mind wanderingduring these simple tasks;, but their performance did not suffer.美国威斯康星大学的心理学家丹尼尔bull;雷文森说，报告显示，那些工作记忆容量更大的人;在执行这些简单任务时更常走神;，不过他们的成绩并没有受影响。The results, published online in the journal Psychological Science, appear to confirm previous research that found working memory allows humans to juggle multiple thoughtssimultaneously.这一研究结果似乎实了先前的研究发现，即工作记忆让人类能够同时思考多样事情。《心理科学》杂志在网上发布了这一研究结果。Dr Jonathan Smallwood, of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science in Leipzig, Germany, said: ;What this study seems to suggest is that, when circumstancesfor the task aren#39;t very difficult, people who have additional working memory resources deploy them to think about things other than what they#39;re doing.;德国莱比锡马克斯bull;普朗克人类认知和大脑科学研究所的乔纳森bull;斯默伍德士说：;这项研究似乎表明，当完成任务的环境不是很困难时，有多余工作记忆容量的人会运用这部分容量来思考所执行的任务以外的其他事情。;Working memory capacity is also associated with general measures of intelligence, such as ing comprehension and IQ scores, and also offers a window into the widesp, butnot well understood, realm of internally driven thoughts.工作记忆容量还和阅读理解和智商得分等智力衡量通用方法相关，并为我们了解内部驱动的思想王国开启了一扇窗。尽管大脑人人都有，但是我们对它的理解却很不够。Dr Smallwood added: ;Our results suggest the sorts of planning that people do quite often in daily life ; when they are on the bus, when they are cycling to work, when they arein the shower ; are probably supported by working memory.斯默伍德士补充说：;我们的结果显示，人们经常在日常生活中;;在巴士上、在骑车上班时，或在淋浴时;;构思的种种计划很可能就是工作记忆持的。;Their brains are trying to allocate resources to the most pressing problems.;;他们的大脑试图把资源分配到最紧迫的问题上。; /201203/174768

In Japan, the global leader in high-tech toilet design, the latest restroom marvel should come with a health warning for hypochondriacs - it doubles as a medical lab that can really spoil your day.作为高科技马桶设计方面的全球领先者，日本最新设计的一款马桶能为那些怀疑自己生病的人敲响健康警钟，不过这款兼有身体检查功能的马桶真的会让你郁闷一整天。Japanese toilets have long and famously dominated the world of bathroom hygiene with their array of functions, from posterior shower jets to perfume bursts and noise-masking audio effects for the easily-embarrassed.长期以来，日本在卫生洁具方面一直处于世界领先地位，其所设计的马桶因功能多样化而闻名于世，这其中包括背部淋浴喷头、香水喷洒装置以及掩盖人们在上厕所时发出尴尬声音的遮音工具等。The latest ;intelligent; model, manufactured by market leader Toto, goes a step further and isn#39;t for the faint-hearted: it offers its users an instant health check-up every time they answer the call of nature. Designed for the housing company Daiwa House with Japan#39;s growing army of elderly in mind, it provides urine analysis, takes the user#39;s blood pressure and body temperature, and measures their weight with a built-in floor scale.这款最新的;智能;马桶模型由知名卫具公司东陶公司制造，其功能上又有新突破，但不适合胆小者使用:因为这款马桶每次都会对如厕者进行一次即时身体检查。这款马桶是为房产公司大和房建设计的，考虑到日本日益壮大的老年人队伍，这款马桶兼有尿液分析、为使用者量血压和体温，并用其内置地秤为使用者测量体重等多项功能。;Our chairman had the idea when he was at a hospital and saw people waiting for health checks. He thought it would be better if they could do the health tests at home, ; says Akiho Suzuki, an architect at Daiwa House.大和房建的建筑师铃木明步说:;我们的老板在一家医院看见人们排队等待体检时产生了这一想法，他觉得如果人们能在家就做体检会更方便。;Toto#39;s engineers developed a receptacle inside the basin to collect the urine for sugar content and temperature checks, and an armband to monitor blood pressure. The out is displayed on a wall-mounted computer screen.东陶公司的工程师们在马桶上安装了一种尿液收集器，用于检测血糖和体温，并带有监控血压的臂带。检查结果会在安装在墙上的电脑屏幕上显示出来。;With the current model, your data is sent automatically to your personal computer, and then you can email it to your doctor,; said Suzuki. ;In the next generation model, the data will be sent automatically to family members or doctors via the Internet,; she said. The electronic marvel, called the ;Intelligence Toilet;, is capable of storing the data of up to five different people and retails for 350,000 to 500,000 yen (about 4,100 to 5,850 dollars) in Japan, she said. ;For now our customers are essentially middle-aged and senior people. But we hope the young generation will also become more health-conscious.;铃木说:;目前的模型能将你的数据自动传输到你的个人电脑上，然后你可以通过电子邮件发送给你的医生。下一代模型则能将数据自动通过网络发送给你的家庭成员或医生。;她说，这一被称为;智能马桶;的电子卫具能够储存五个人的数据，目前在日本的零售价格为每套35万到50万日元(合4100到5850美元)。;目前我们的顾客主要是中老年人。不过我们希望年轻人也能更加重视自己的健康。;The model is the latest advance in a string of sophisticated toilets， known as ;washlets; in Japan, which have become ubiquitous in recent decades.这一模型是日本高科技马桶系列卫洗丽的一款最新产品，近几十年来，卫洗丽产品在日本已经相当普及。 /201410/334003

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Nothing captures how fashionable the startup has become quite like crowdfunding. The craze for raising contributions via websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo is helping to launch companies from scooter manufacturers to lightbulb vendors to filmmakers.没有什么比众筹更能说明创业的火爆了。很多人疯狂地通过Kickstarter和Indiegogo等网站资助别人搞创业，接受资助的企业有中既有做脚踏车的，也有做电灯泡的，甚至还有拍电影的。Now, even nuclear fusion is game.现在，就连研究核聚变的都上了这条船。Yes, the Holy Grail of cheap, clean, safe, plentiful, low-carbon energy that has remained 40 years in the future since scientists proposed it over half a century ago has entered the crowdsourcing era. International government projects like ITER in France and the National Ignition Facility in California may have spent billions of dollars in pursuit of the technology, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a little grassroots action, too.核能由于具有廉价、清洁、安全、低碳、用之不竭的特点而被喻为能源中的“圣杯”。自从半个多世纪前，科学家们提出利用核能的设想以来，有40多年的时间里，核能在我们眼中似乎都是未来才能享受到的福利。如今这种“高大上”的能源也终于进入了众包时代。虽然有些核能项目动辄要花费几十亿美元，比如法国的国际热核实验反应堆（ITER）和美国加州的美国国家点火装置（National Ignition Facility），但是这并不意味着在核能领域就完全没有草根阶层可以施展拳脚的空间。LPP Fusion, a tiny company based in Middlesex, N.J., launched in May an Indiegogo campaign to raise 0,000—loose change in this business—that it believes will help it reach a major fusion development milestone in a year and commercialize fusion reactors by 2020.美国新泽西州米德尔塞克斯市的一家叫LPP Fusion的小公司今年五月在Indiegogo上发起了一项募集20万美金的活动。虽然20万美金在这个行业里微乎其微，但这家公司相信，这笔钱能帮助它在一年之内完成核聚变领域的一项具有里程碑意义的研究。这样，到2020年，它的研究成果就可以转化为核聚变反应堆。LPP (it stands for “Lawrenceville Plasma Physics“) is representative of a new class of companies emerging to address the world’s energy crisis: Nuclear startups. Dozens of small new reactor companies are either chasing the elusive fusion dream or pursuing fission designs that trump those on the market today. All are promising to deliver a knock-out blow to the carbon-intensive fossil fuels that bedevil the world with environmental impact and volatile geopolitics and economics. Many of these innovative firms are positioning their reactors not just for electricity, but also to provide clean heat for high temperature industrial processes and for water desalination.LPP公司（全名意为“劳伦斯维尔等离子物理公司”）代表了一群致力于解决全球能源问题的创业公司——即核能创业公司。现在有好几十家规模较小的新型反应堆公司要么在继续研究晦涩的聚变问题，要么在绞尽脑汁地设计优于市场现有方案的裂变反应堆。所有这些公司最终都想来一个“一鸣惊人”，彻底取代给人类造成了深重的环境影响和地缘政治冲突的化石能源。很多创业公司的新型反应堆不仅致力于提供电力，还致力于为各种高温工业流程提供清洁的热能，以及用于海水淡化等造福人类的事业。While LPP might be the only crowdfunded member of the group, it is determined like its young peers to shake up the staid nuclear industry. Reactor designs have not fundamentally changed since utilities first connected fission machines to the grid in the 1950s, marking a conservatism that has mired nuclear in the era of black-and-white television while colorful possibilities abound. The startups aim to brighten the palette.尽管LPP可能是核能创业公司中唯一一个靠众筹来拉资金的公司，但它也像它的小兄弟们一样，立志要把死气沉沉的核能行业搅得风生水起。自从上世纪50年代，科学家们第一次把裂变反应堆接入到输电网络时起，直到现在，核反应堆的设计都没有任何根本性的改良。这种保守主义做法就像在黑白电视时代的末期，尽管持色显像的技术已经四处开花，但厂商仍然抱着黑白电视拒绝进步一样。今天的这些核能创业公司就是要让核能板块“亮”起来。For LPP, that would mean not only delivering fusion—melding atoms together rather than fission’s waste-creating process of splitting them apart—but it would also eliminate the time-honored need for costly turbines and generators. Nuclear power, including most fusion concepts, functions mechanically the same way fossil fuel plants do by creating heat to produce steam to drive a turbine. LPP is working on a type of fusion called “aneutronic” that emits charged particles for electricity.对于LPP公司来说，这意味着它不仅仅要研究出可控核聚变方案（而不是产生有害废物的核裂变反应），还要取消这个过程中历来对于汽轮机和发电机的需求——核能（包括大多数核聚变方案）的基本原理与化石燃料发电厂的原理是一致的，都是先产生热能，然后产生蒸汽，然后驱动汽轮机发电。而LPP公司研究的一种核聚变形式又叫做“无中子核聚变”，可以释放带电粒子来发电。“The nuclear industry is stuck using the same method for making electricity that utilities have used since the days of Thomas Edison—generate heat to make steam to drive a turbine and generator,” says Eric Lerner, president of LPP Fusion. “We can change all that. We can convert energy directly into electricity and slash costs.”LPP Fusion公司总裁埃里克o勒那说：“核能行业的发电方法还停留在爱迪生那个时代——通过发热产生蒸汽来驱动汽轮机和发电机。而我们可以改变这一点，我们可以把能源直接转变为电能，同时大量削减成本。”First, he’ll need the 0,000 he seeks on Indiegogo (he has until July 5 to raise it), which would buy him some fancy new beryllium electrodes that would withstand rigors far better than the copper variety that LPP has been using. He hopes to install them by the end of this year in his experimental fusion reactor, which Lerner operates at the Friendly Storage premises in Middlesex, a place otherwise full of surplus boxes and furniture.首先，勒那需要在Indiegogo上募集到20万美元，用来购买比LPP正在使用的铜电极更能经受极端情况考验的铍电极。勒那希望在年底前将铍电极安装在LPP那台试验性的聚变反应堆上，这个反应堆设置在米德尔塞克斯市的一处库房里，那个地方原本堆满了箱子和家具。Lerner is boldly confident that the beryllium would by the middle of next year enable his lab to overcome the problem that has vexed fusion projects forever: It would harness more energy out of its reactor than what goes into it. Additional financing might then rush in. LPP will need million in total, virtually nothing next to the nearly billion that ITER has budgeted for only the next 10 years of an expected 30 years of construction and development of a 20-story “tokamak” facility.勒那相信，在铍电极的帮助下，到明年中旬，他的实验室将克一个长久以来一直困扰着核聚变研究的难题，让我们从核聚变反应堆中获得的能源超过我们投入的用于点燃反应堆的能源。如果试验成功的话，届时可能会有大量资金涌入。LPP的研究总共要花费5000万美金，听起来倒是不少，但相比之下ITER的核聚变项目预计需要30年的建设时间，光是头10年的预算就高达180亿美元，还要建筑一个20层楼“托卡马克”装置。这样看来，LPP的5000万美金简直太便宜了。With the financing, Lerner believes that by 2020 he could license the mass-production of small 0,000-to-0,000 fusion machines—each the size of a one-car garage—with a capacity of 5 megawatts, enough to power 3,000 houses.勒那相信，凭借这笔资金，到2020年的时候，他的公司将能够量产单价在30万到50万美元之间的小型核聚变发电机。每台这种发电机的尺寸只有一个停车位那么大，发电量达到500万瓦特，足够持3000个家庭的用电量。If only he had the wherewithal of rival fusion startup Tri-Alpha Energy, which has rounded up over 0 million from Goldman Sachs, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and Russian state-owned company Rusnano, among others. Like LPP, Irvine, Calif.-based Tri-Alpha hopes to develop an aneutronic machine that delivers electricity without using turbines.可惜LPP的后盾远远不及竞争对手Tri-Alpha能源公司。这家公司已经从高盛（Goldman Sachs）、微软（Microsoft）共同创始人保罗o艾伦、俄罗斯国有企业Rusnano等投资人处融到了1.4亿美元资金。像LPP一样，这家位于加州尔湾市的核能创业公司也希望开发出一台无中子核聚变发电机，从而不需要借助汽轮机也能发电。ITER and NIF, the government groups, are taking a more “conventional” fusion approach, aspiring to drive turbines with heat released by fusing isotopes of hydrogen. (In contrast, an aneutronic process tends to fuse standard hydrogen and boron.) So, too, are a number of startups that believe they can crack fusion long before the big science projects do by developing smaller machines (NIF’s facility is 3 football fields long and 10 stories tall) and deploying different technologies.ITER和NIF这两大政府机构则采取了更加“传统”的核聚变方案，也就是通过融合氢的同位素氘和氚和释放热量，从而驱动汽轮机发电。（相比之下，无中子核聚变倾向于将标准的氢与硼进行融合）。此外还有一大批创业公司相信，他们可以比这些举倾国之力的大科学项目提前研究出可控核聚变技术，并且开发出小型的核聚变发电机（NIF的核聚变设施有3个足球场那么大，10层楼高）。“We liken it to the Human Genome Project or SpaceX, where large government programs were ultimately outrun by more nimble and more practical innovation in the private sector,” notes Nathan Gilliland, CEO of General Fusion near Vancouver, Canada. General Fusion has raised million from sources including the Canadian oil company Cenovus and Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive.总部位于加拿大温哥华附近的通用聚变（General Fusion）公司的CEO南森o吉利兰德指出：“我们可以把它与人类基因组计划或太空探索技术公司（Space X）做一下比较，因为在后两者的领域中，大型政府性项目最终也是被私人领域的更灵活、更实用的创新超越了。”通用聚变公司从加拿大石油公司Cenovus和亚马逊（Amazon）CEO杰夫o贝佐斯等投资人那里融得3200万美元资金。As intriguing as fusion is, there is probably more startup activity in fission, where novel approaches promise great improvements over the industry’s addiction to fissioning solid uranium fuel rods then cooling and moderating them with water.虽然核聚变的前景非常诱人，但更多的创业公司可能活跃在核裂变领域，他们研究的一些新方法比行业现有的对铀燃料棒进行裂变然后用水冷却、稳定的方法要先进得多。A host of startups are experimenting with different approaches including the use of liquid fuel, the use of solid fuel with different shapes (such as bricks or pebbles), and the use of alternative coolants and moderators such as salts and gases. Many of the designs draw on ideas that politics suppressed decades ago. Some, like Bill Gates-chaired TerraPower in Bellevue, Wash., are designing “fast reactors” that don’t moderate neutrons. Some envision using the element thorium instead of uranium.很多公司正在围绕新型的核裂变方法展开试验，比如使用液态燃料，或是使用不同形状的固态燃料（如砖型或卵型），以及使用盐或气体作为冷却剂与缓和剂等等。许多设计都吸收了几十年前不被政府允许的理念。比如由比尔o盖茨任董事长的泰拉能源公司（TerraPower）正在设计一种不需要对中子进行缓和的“快速反应堆”。有些公司则设想利用钍元素来代替铀作为裂变燃料。Between them, they portend leaps in safety, cut way down on nuclear waste, use “waste” as fuel, minimize weapons proliferation risks, slash costs and tremendously boost efficiencies. Many fit the “small modular” form that enables mass production and affordable incremental power. (Oregon startup NuScale Power recently secured 7 million in federal funds to develop a small but comparatively conventional reactor.)很多创业公司的方案在提高核裂变安全性、大大减少核废料、变“废物”为燃料、最大程度降低武器化风险、降低成本和提高效率方面都具有广阔的前景。许多方案都具有“小型模块化”的特征，能够满足量产和经济性发电的需要。（俄勒冈州的创业公司NuScale能源公司最近获得了2.17亿美元的联邦基金，用于研发一种小型的、但相对传统的核反应堆。）“There is a growing market pull for innovation in the nuclear space, so you’re beginning to see a blossoming of startup companies doing different things in nuclear,” says Simon Irish, CEO of startup Terrestrial Energy, Mississauga, Canada, which is developing a “molten salt” reactor (MSR) based on liquid fuel.加拿大米西索加市创业公司Terrestrial Energy的CEO西蒙o艾里什指出：“市场对核能领域创新的拉动力越来越强。所以我们开始看到，很多在核能领域从事不同研究的创业公司如雨后春笋般涌现出来。”艾里什的公司正在研发一种基于液态燃料的“熔盐”反应堆（MSA）。In the U.S., Russ Wilcox, CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based MSR developer Transatomic Power, implores the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to broaden its focus beyond conventional reactor safety, which he says “freezes progress.”在美国，总部位于马萨诸塞州剑桥市的MSR开发公司Transatomic Power首席执行官拉斯o威尔克斯正在请求美国核管理委员会（the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission）放宽对传统核反应域安全的限制，称这种限制“冻结了进步”。Many observers believe that countries other than the U.S., such as Canada and China, will deploy first. Beijing is funding innovative Chinese fission projects, with collaboration from the U.S. DOE. Meanwhile, Western companies seek funds. Like Cenovus at General Fusion, more oil companies might pony up, because they want clean heat to process petroleum. As Fortune reported last month, a lack of industry funding appears to have slowed progress in DOE’s mission to develop an advanced reactor.许多观察人士认为，除了美国之外，加拿大和中国等国有望成为第一批部署新型核能技术的国家。中国政府正在美国能源部的协助下大力投资新型核裂变项目。同时像Cenovus公司在通用聚变公司所扮演的角色一样，更多石油公司可能会投资核能项目，因为他们也需要清洁的热能来进行石油加工。正如《财富》杂志上月报道的那样，由于缺乏行业投资的缘故，美国能源部开发一个先进的核反应堆的计划似乎已经放缓。LPP Fusion doesn’t seem to be worried. For the young company, the next financing stage could simply be a matter of warming up the crowd.LPP的核聚变研究则似乎不用担心钱的事。这家年轻公司的下一轮融资可能很容易就点燃大众的热情。 /201407/312875

Alibaba is looking to transform state-dominated sectors of the Chinese economy, such as financial services and healthcare, a senior executive said yesterday, as Chinese consumers set a new record for online sales on Singles’ Day.中国消费者创下“光棍节”网上购物的新纪录之际，阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的一位高管昨日表示，该公司正努力转变金融务和医疗等国家主导的行业。Joe Tsai, executive vice-chairman of Alibaba, told the Financial Times that financial services and healthcare were large but “very antiquated” industries where ecommerce could “roll out to reform the current system”.阿里巴巴副董事长蔡崇信(Joe Tsai)对英国《金融时报》表示，金融务和医疗保健产业很大，但“非常陈旧”，电子商务在这些行业可以“推动对当前体系的改革”。Alibaba executives used Singles’ Day, the company’s biggest event since its initial public offering in September, to lay out its next steps. “Aside from ecommerce in goods we’re also looking at ecommerce in services, in entertainment, in different types of content over the internet,” said Mr Tsai.阿里巴巴的高管们利用光棍节来阐述下一步计划，光棍节是该公司自9月首次公开发行(IPO)以来最大的活动。蔡崇信说：“除了商品电子商务，我们还着眼于务、及互联网上各类内容的电子商务。”The raw power of ecommerce to change China was on display yesterday as an auditorium-sized billboard at Alibaba headquarters blinked massive sales totals for the day. The company – now almost bn larger than Walmart by market capitalisation – said a record bn worth of goods had been sold via its services, up from .8bn last year.昨天电子商务展现出了改变中国的原始力量，在阿里巴巴总部，一块巨大的电子屏幕闪烁着当天的销售总额。如今市值高出沃尔玛(Walmart)近400亿美元的阿里巴巴表示，共有价值571亿元人民币（约93亿美元）的商品通过其务售出，超过了去年的362亿元人民币（约59亿美元），创下了销售额纪录。The Singles’ Day holiday, when unattached adults buy gifts for themselves, was created by students in 1993, but Alibaba has turned it into a festival of conspicuous consumption that has surpassed world shopping records. “The Chinese economy was traditionally based on exports,” Mr Tsai said. “Now we’re witnessing the shift of the economy from [one] driven by [the] state sector to one focused on the consumer.”光棍节是单身成年人为自己购买礼物的节日，原本由学生群体在1993年创建，但阿里巴巴已将它转变成一个炫耀性消费节日，创下了购物的世界纪录。蔡崇信说：“中国经济传统以出口为基础。现在我们正见着这个经济体从国有部门带动转型为专注于消费者的经济。”But he acknowledged Alibaba’s moves into state-dominated industries have not been as smooth as it hoped. He admitted the group’s plans for rolling into financial services, such as online money market fund Yu’e Bao, had been dealt “a setback” by the Central Bank’s decision to block plans for a virtual credit card last spring. Internet competition would have hurt Union Pay, the state credit card monopoly.但他承认阿里巴巴进入国家主导行业并没有它希望的那么顺利。他承认由于中国央行今年春天否决虚拟信用卡计划，该集团推进金融务（如在线货币市场基金余额宝）的计划已“受挫”。互联网竞争会损害国家信用卡垄断体系银联(UnionPay)的利益。“The central bank obviously said, ‘Let’s slow things down a bit. Let’s understand what these innovations are really about and let’s bring reform rather than disruption’,” said Mr Tsai.蔡崇信说：“央行显然是说，‘让我们慢一点。让我们了解下这些创新的实质，我们要的是改革而不是破坏。’”Plans to list Alipay, Alibaba’s PayPal-like payments service, he added, would focus on an IPO in China due to government regulations limiting foreign ownership in banking.他又说道，阿里巴巴旗下类似贝宝(PayPal)的付务付宝(Alipay)的上市计划将专注于在中国IPO，因为政府规定限制外资持股。 /201411/342242

Backed by the financier J.P. Morgan, Nikola Tesla, the inventor and rival to Thomas Edison, built in the early 1900s the Wardenclyffe Tower, a 187-foot-high structure on Long Island, which he said could transmit electricity wirelessly. The project failed, and Tesla ended up broke. (In an earlier experiment in Colorado, Tesla had wirelessly lit up 200 lamps over a distance of 25 miles, but pedestrians witnessed sparks jumping between their feet and the ground, and electricity flowed from faucets when turned on. Oops.)尼古拉#8226;特斯拉是19世纪末20世纪初与托马斯#8226;爱迪生相媲美的发明家。1901年，他从亿万富翁J.P.根那里获得资助，在纽约长岛修建了一座高达187英尺的无线电能传输塔——沃登克里弗塔。可惜项目最终失败，特斯拉本人也宣告破产。（特斯拉之前曾在科罗拉多州做过类似的实验，成功地将25英里之外的200盏灯点亮。不过据现场目击者称，他们能感到电流从地面穿过脚底，甚至当地居民在打开水龙头时，都能看到水流在哗哗放电……）Fast-forward over a century, and wireless electricity is finally gaining some traction. More than one hundred companies including startups such as WiTricity and ProxybyPower and giants such as Toyota (TM), Intel (INTC), Samsung, and Foxconn are investing in the technology. The challenge: to take the wires out of the power equation by transmitting electricity through magnetic fields.一个多世纪过去了，无线电能传输技术已取得了一些进展。一百多家公司正在研究这项技术，其中既有WiTricity和ProxybyPower等新创公司，又有丰田（Toyota）、英特尔（Intel）、三星（Samsung）和富士康（Foxconn）等跨国企业。目前的挑战在于：按照功率方程原理，让电能从通过电缆传输变成通过磁场传输。When in the atmosphere, electricity exists as a magnetic field. The trick is to capture it safely to recharge devices. Today#39;s electric toothbrushes charge wirelessly -- as power is transmitted through a magnetic field from the charger to the brush. You can aly buy wireless recharging pads: Place your cellphone on a pad that#39;s plugged into the wall, and it will recharge. These pads, however, have their limitations -- the cellphone has to be in the right position, and it can take a long time. A New Zealand company called PowerbyProxy has demonstrated a system where you can put multiple cellphones on a pad in any position, and it will charge the devices as fast as a traditional charger. Samsung last month invested million in the company.电能在空气中传播时会转变为电磁场。所以我们可以非常安全地给手机等设备无线充电。现在普遍使用的无线充电式电动牙刷就是这个原理——电能通过磁场从电源传输给牙刷。市面上还有不少无线充电板，只要接通电源，再把手机放到上面就能无线充电。不过这种充电板有不少缺点：手机必须放得恰到好处，而且充电时间也很长。新西兰一家叫PowerbyProxy的公司发明了一套新系统，用户可以同时把多部手机摆放在充电板上的任何位置，充电速度很快，时间与传统方式相当。三星公司上个月宣布向PowerbyProxy投资400万美元。The next step: charging without being so tied to a pad. That#39;s the technology a Watertown, Mass., company named WiTricity is developing. Based on work done at MIT, the technology -- on which the company holds exclusive patents -- uses magnetic resonance to move power through the air -- which means electricity can be moved farther distances without a wire. The way it works: Two devices resonate at the same frequency so that the magnetic waves can travel very precisely from one point to another. Plug a resonator into a wall outlet, and a device installed on a cellphone or an electric car receives the power and starts recharging. WiTricity says its system can move an impressive 3,300 watts -- enough to charge an electric car -- with little efficiency loss. Says Eric Giler, the CEO of WiTricity: ;We all love electricity and are willing to do almost anything to get it. It will be the last thing to go wireless, but it will go wireless.;下一个目标：无需充电板也能无线充电。位于马萨诸塞沃特敦的WiTricity公司在这个领域颇有作为。这家公司利用电磁谐振技术在空气中传输电能，意味着电能有望实现远距离无线传输。这项技术的基础是麻省理工学院（MIT）的研究成果，WiTricity持有独家专利。它的具体原理如下：如果两个谐振物体具有相同的频率，那么电能将非常精确地从一方传输到另一方。只要把谐振器插入插座，在另一边的电动汽车或手机里安装上对应的设备，它们就能接收到电能，开始充电。WiTricity称目前已能传输高达3300瓦特电能而损耗极小，这已经足够给一辆电动汽车充电了。WiTricity首席执行官埃里克#8226;吉尔说：“我们都热爱电能，愿意不惜一切代价获得它。电能也许是我们最后一个希望无线化的东西，而这个目标必将实现。”Is the process safe? Because electricity moves through the air as magnetic waves that are similar to the earth#39;s magnetic waves, it poses no harm to humans, says Giler. The FCC has set limits for magnetic fields, and WiTricity claims its devices fall well below that threshold. The industry, however, will still face a tough time educating and persuading consumers that these devices are safe.这个过程是否安全？吉尔称因为电能以电磁波的形式通过空气传输，这和地球的电磁场类似，所以对人类不会造成危害。美国联邦通讯委员会（FCC）对电磁场技术有不少规定，WiTricity自称它的设备都符合FCC的要求。不过，整个工业界仍面临巨大的挑战，需要在教育和宣传上不断努力，以打消广大消费者的顾虑。In recent weeks, Intel and Hon Hai/Foxconn, seeing wireless charging as a possible killer app for electronic devices such as laptops and cellphones, invested in WiTricity. Schlumberger, which is interested in cutting the number of wires in its oil rigs to save maintenance costs, was an early investor, as was Toyota, which is reported to have plans to test a wireless charging station for plug-in cars.英特尔和鸿海/富士康集团将无线充电技术视为笔记本和手机等电子设备的杀手级应用。它们在几周前投资了WiTricity公司。石油巨头斯伦贝谢（Schlumberger）是WiTricity的早期投资者，它希望新技术能减少自己油田里的电线数量，以节约维护成本。丰田公司也参与了投资，有消息称它计划测试一种用于插电式电动车的无线充电站。The technology has applications outside the consumer sphere as well. WiTricity is working with the Pentagon to wirelessly charge those robots that disarm bombs. When soldiers try to plug in the robots for recharging, they sometimes get shot by snipers. Doing it wirelessly would reduce the danger. In the medical world, patients with heart pumps have to have electric wires running out of their bodies, which can cause infections. WiTricity is working with heart pump maker Thoratec to create a wireless solution.无线充电技术不仅在民用领域崭露头角，在其他领域也大放异。WiTricity正在和五角大楼合作，研究如何对美国军方的拆弹机器人无线充电。目前这些机器人需要人工更换电池，不少士兵在操作时会被敌方的狙击手击。无线充电将极大地避免伤亡。在医疗领域，病人们所使用的心脏辅助泵需要外接电源，很容易引起感染。WiTricity正在与心脏辅助泵制造商Thoratec合作开发无线充电装置。How long before this technology becomes a reality? All these applications are in the testing stage, but Giler says that within the next couple of years many of them will be hitting the market.这项新技术何时才能变为现实？目前所有领域都还在实验阶段，不过吉尔表示，我们有望在未来几年陆续看到相关的新产品面世。Until then, where did I put that cellphone charger again.到那时，我的手机充电器该何去何从呢？ /201311/264745